FILE PHOTO: New York Attorney General Letitia James speaks to the media after she pleaded not guilty to charges that she defrauded her mortgage lender, outside the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, in Norfolk, Virginia, U.S., October 24, 2025. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo
Allies of President Donald Trump in the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) have been unsuccessful in their efforts to bring a Democratic Trump foe, New York State Attorney Letitia James, to trial. After James was charged with mortgage fraud in October, federal Judge Cameron McGowan Currie dismissed the charges on November 24. And attempts at a new indictment were rejected by grand juries on December 4 and 11.
James is still keeping busy as New York State's attorney general. And on Tuesday, December 23, she announced that the state had won a case against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for cutting funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
James characterized the legal victory as a triumph for public safety, tweeting, "We won our case against @DHSgov, restoring funding for lifesaving anti-terrorism and emergency response programs. This is a major victory for our law enforcement and local leaders who depend on these funds to keep New Yorkers safe."
The New York state attorney general first announced the lawsuit on September 29.
That day, James tweeted, "I'm suing the federal government for cutting FEMA funds that protect national security and emergency response programs from states that refuse to support its attacks on immigrants. I won't let this administration play political games with resources that help keep people safe."
Newsweek reporters Hollie Silverman and Dan Gooding note, "The funding in question has been viewed as a way for the federal government to seek to force so-called sanctuary states to comply with federal immigration enforcement…. In a ruling issued Monday, Rhode Island U.S. District Judge Mary S. McElroy, a Trump appointee, said the case was the latest example of the Trump Administration attempting to tie federal grants to immigration enforcement. She referred to a previous ruling barring DHS from doing this, after which the department sent out letters to the plaintiff states telling them funding was being reallocated anyway."